An Open Letter to Washington State

W

ashington,

You are an amazing place. And your people are bold and brave and not content to remain in the mire of misinformation and flawed policies that fail to serve the human race, let alone the American people. You have a unique opportunity to do something phenomenal and important, something historic. You are at the tip of a spear that has been a long time coming, thrusting forward and slicing through error into truth. Now is not the time to be tentative or conservative. We understand the logic behind a “baby steps” mentality, and we even identified with that position somewhat until recently. However the weight of the error behind the prohibition of cannabis is so significant, and so obviously outside of the realm of reality, that we are finding ourselves aligning more and more with a bold approach. Why peel off the layers of falsehood and oppression slowly – doesn’t that just keep hurting people, even if it is a little fewer people each time? Would we take that stance with any other issue that we have had to correct in the past. Alcohol prohibition, civil rights, women’s suffrage – would we propose a solution that eased people into these freedoms and rights today? Absolutely not! We have enough information and societal progress to understand that the ideas and bravery that drove such changes were right in the absolute sense, able to admit that the ideas that preceded them were absolute wrongs. There was no measure of truth in them and it is correct for us as a people to look back in shame at how we created such inexcusable views, policies, laws and errors with a newfound determination to not continue the vicious cycles that hold us back.

Sometimes, in this movement at least, it seems that those in authority are waiting for unanimous and sweeping support for the right thing before taking the pioneering steps towards full legalization of the cannabis plant. However, if you consider the examples above, you will note that there are still those who would identify with backwards ideas and dogmas long left behind by those willing to adjust opinions by truth. And yet no one is really all that concerned about such dissenters. They are ignorant at best – horrible humans at worst. We don’t require them to be onboard with the truth in order to act and change in ways commensurate with freedom, equality and human goodness. We place them squarely on the fringe where they belong and take no heed to their ramblings and opposition to what is clearly the right path. So why is it that when faced with an issue that has long been proven to be formulated based on lies and greed – and continues to be shown as such by historical, scientific and modern medical understandings – do we hem and haw over such segments of our society? We will not see polls that show 100% of people support marijuana legalization because there will always be people who resist the truth due to emotion, bigotry and ignorance.

A revolution is needed. You can be a force in it – a powerful voice for reason.

Do we need regulation to keep cannabis out of the hands of minors and to ensure the public’s safety on roads a la alcohol? Absolutely! We just ask that you do so based on fact and reality, leaning on experts rather than policy-makers who are more concerned with their own jobs and influence than what is best for Washingtonians. And that means listening to the clear evidence that you can’t equate marijuana with alcohol across the board in every respect. Do your due diligence to understand the differences in impairment, detection and make regulation that is smart, based on fact, and fair. The legislature’s role in this needs to defer to those who have the facts, and then they simply need to act in line with those facts.

It’s a plant. Let people grow it. You do realize that we can make our own beer and wine and even liquor via all kinds of kits available legally? Yes, if we make batches of them and then sell them outside of government regulation there would be consequences. Do you notice that nobody is raiding someone’s home to steal their homebrew? Why would you if you can make it yourself or just go down to any corner store (thanks to another bold move in WA, privatizing liquor in 2010) and pick up your own? The same is true for cannabis, only we are dealing with something that is shown time and time again to be far more benign than alcohol. If someone grows a 1000 plants and sells it outside of government regulation, arrest and prosecute them – no one is suggesting the wild west or some kind of rejection of law and order or even legislation that is outside of common sense. But the days of kicking down people’s doors with an assault team of police thugs has to end. How can we defend the idea that we are founded on liberty and freedom when these kinds of things are happening? And how can we defend our state as progressive if we toe the line of insanity any longer?

You are amazing Washington. It is your time to shine. Show them what you are made of and watch as the rest of the nation wants to grow up and be just like you.